Will Sen. de León Face Challenge for Pro Tem?
As political dominoes fall, Sen. Kevin de León seems closer to grabbing the position of president pro tem of the state senate. With the announcement yesterday that Congressman George Miller would retire, state senator Mark DeSaulnier said he would run for Miller’s seat taking him out of the competition for pro tem. DeSaulnier was considered […]
Jerry Brown: Earl Warren Redux?
The gubernatorial candidate many Republicans might think is the safest bet in the November election just may be Jerry Brown. Wait a minute, I hear you cry. Brown is a Democrat. Understood, however, consider the reality of California’s current political scene. Brown’s philosophy expressed in the newly released budget seems to get a greater nod […]
Job Creation Needed to Save LA – “A City in Decline”
A Los Angeles city resident reading the newly released Los Angeles 2020 Commission report would be forgiven for immediately packing his or her bags and getting out of town. The independent commission of 13 members created by City Council president Herb Wesson issued a scathing report calling California’s biggest metropolis a city in decline. No […]
Another Controversial Initiative Summary
Did Attorney General Kamala Harris read the memo supplied by pollsters who conducted a union sponsored poll on the pension reform initiative? As the Sacramento Bee reported last month, the Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group suggested some messages that would bury the pension reform initiative. The group emphasized that the use of the word “eliminate” in reference to […]
Playing Games with a Rainy Day Fund?
The news that Governor Jerry Brown will include a push for a rainy day fund in his budget proposal raises both hope and concerns. You see, there is already a rainy day fund proposal scheduled to appear on the November ballot. Will Brown support a strong rainy day fund measure or a weaker proposal than […]
Small Business Study Ranks California Last
An item we missed while on break is yet another report claiming that California is not business friendly. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council ranked California 50th in an extensive index measuring state policy measures on small business. The report noted it ranked “the 50 states according to 47 different policy measures, including a wide […]
R.I.P. Susan Rasky
Susan Rasky, an award winning journalist and journalism professor at UC Berkeley, who wrote about politics in her native California after beginning her career in Washington, D.C. passed away. Susan interviewed me a number of times and I remember a few lively conversations, one memorable time breaking bread with Susan and Peter Schrag after I […]
Intriguing California Politics for the New Year
2014 could prove to be a wild and wooly year politically in California with many changes in the way the state does business. Or it could see many big changes thwarted. It’s an election year, after all, and legislators may be skittish when it comes to backing a big change and then facing voters. Of […]
Happy Holidays!
Fox and Hounds Daily will resume publication on January 2, 2014.
Black Bart Award Winner: The Mayors
Fox and Hounds Daily’s Black Bart Award as Californian of the Year in Politics for 2013 goes to: The Mayors. In a year when many of California mayors made headlines for different reasons: rallying support for changes in public pensions; dealing with bankruptcies or potential bankruptcies; or becoming entangled in scandal, many mayors around the […]